This article appeared in the Sept. 13, 2013 Jewish Advocate.

Are Jews still willing to give?

New report spells the challenges for Jewish Federations as it sets a course of action

By Susie Davidson
Special to the Advocate

“Most American Jews are charitable givers,” proclaims the opening graphic of the website for Connected to Give, a just-releasedreportissued by a consortium of varied foundations and Jewish Federations. The statements continue: As their income rises, so does their giving. Jews give to both Jewish and non-Jewish causes.

And the key to sustain this giving is connection.

It makes sense – Tzedakah, our charitable tradition, comes from the Hebrew Tzade-Dalet-Qof, which means righteousness or justice. That we are wired to give is not in question.

What is in question is how the next generation of Jews will give, and to whom.

The Sept. 3report, which was written by Jim Gerstein, Steven M. Cohen, and J. Shawn Landres, surveyed 2,911 American Jewish households as a collaborative project conducted in partnership with the Jumpstart philanthropic research group. The project looked at age and income demographics in charitable giving trends among American Jews, examining motivations for giving, who they gave to, and how their patterns of giving behavior compared with those of non-Jewish Americans.

Findings indicated that generosity will not be going out of style any time soon. But will it be directed toward Jewish causes? According to the authors, without engagement in Jewish life, the answer is murky, and possibly pessimistic. But if givers are connected to one another, the picture improved. And if they are Jewishly engaged, it became even brighter.

NextGen Donors: The Future of Jewish Giving, a report also released this year, poses similar questions. “Generations X and Y. Do they care about Jewish causes, or are they
disinterested in particularistic giving? Will they continue the giving legacies and strategies of their parents and grandparents, or do they want to go in new directions?” are questions asked in this national research project, which was undertaken by The Frey Chair for Family Philanthropy program at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., in collaboration with generational philanthropy consultant group 21/64. “Have they been welcomed into their families’ philanthropy to perpetuate family legacies, or left out of leadership roles as their parents and grandparents continue to make the majority of family giving decisions?” the report asks.

The Connected to Give's outlook is decidedly circumspect and does not mince words: “The contemporary Jewish philanthropic system is confronting its greatest challenges since its formation more than a century ago." The report contends that younger Jews are not as likely to give to Jewish groups as were their parents. Its corroborating figures, while not alarming, are sound, showing 81 percent of those over 64, and just 72 percent of Jews under 40 giving to Jewish organizations. But perhaps of potentially highest concern to Jewish Federations is the report's conclusion that, overall, “Jews are more likely to support non-Jewish organizations than Jewish ones.”

The challenge for our Federations and large, donor-supported Jewish organizations will be how to turn that current toward the needs of our own community. What is certain is that it won't be accomplished through traditional means.

The clear conclusion of the report is that it can only truly be done through connection (e.g., social media, but also print media such as this newspaper, as well as innovative ways by which young Jews can find and interact with one another), and general Jewish engagement.

Newton-based Jewish Causes of Choice, Inc., or JChoice, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation was founded by David Rosenberg, was a pioneer in a network approach to giving.

The organizational mission, as stated on their website is as follows: "JChoice exists to encourage and empower young people to give money to charity. Unlike some other donor-advised funds, our job is only half done when money goes into a gift account. We want to see money turn into good works."

The organization accomplishes this through their enabled social networking, which helps visitors learn more about causes and find people who feel the same about them. A potential giver then can apply to establish a JChoice giving account. It is free to join, and no starting contribution is required. As seems to be the norm with youth-oriented giving groups, 100 percent off donations goes directly to the cause. JChoice also promotes the power of collective giving through donor groups, whose members make allocation decisions by popular vote.

In 2006, Scott Belsky, a Newton native, Harvard Business School alum and the grandson of test-prep executive Stanley Kaplan, helped create the Slingshot Fund, which distributes grants to underfunded groups doing work reflecting values more in line with a 20s and 30s demographic. Slingshot's inaugural grantees included InterfaithFamily.com, JDub Records; the biblical story acting ensemble Storahtelling; and multimedia Jewish teaching group Reboot; since then, recipients since then have included Bend the Arc; Challah for Hunger; Innovation: Africa; Jewish Funds for Justice; Project Chessed and Moishe House. Slingshot's resource guide promotes Massachusetts groups that include the Berkshire Institute for Music and Arts at Brandeis University; Gateways: Access to Jewish Education; the Jewish Women's Archive in Brookline; the GLBT advocacy group Keshet; and the Newton spiritual and mikvah center Mayyim Hayyim. Clearly, these groups are not our parents' Hadassah and Jewish National Fund, but reflect a contemporary, wide-ranging and younger appeal.

It is undoubtedly a changing world of causes, and one that will supersede the one we've known. And Federations may, in fact, need to restructure into this more topically diverse model of allocation in order to meet their new funders where they live.

Among Federations, the outlook remains steadfast and even optimistic, and the focus on the younger demographic, as determined as ever. A recent Jerusalem Post article, one of myriad media takes on theSept.3study, quoted Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America: “We welcome this study, which confirms that Federations are rightly focusing on developing young leaders,” he said. “The study says nearly a third of younger Jews are already giving to Federations. Our Federations across the country are investing significantly in this population segment. At the same time, for the past decade Federation giving has remained strong, at more than $900 million annually.” The Post further cites Mark Medin of the UJA Federation of New York's contentions that his organization was strong, and had raised approximately 11 million over the past year from under-45 donors, representing an increase of over $8 million.

Figures supplied by CJP to the Advocate for this article attest to a similar increase in participation from the younger generation, in both giving and connecting. These figures reflect outreach efforts geared to young Jews. In light of the recent merge between CJP and the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, these efforts will continue and will be geared to this younger demographic in both the Boston and North Shore areas.

Giving:

- From 2012-2013, the overall Next Generation (age 45 or younger) cohort had a 28.6 percent increase ($4.6 million to $5.9 million) in giving to CJP’s annual campaign.

- Next Gen donors represented ~13 percent of overall campaign.

- 12 percent of Donor Advised Funds (DAF) with $100K+ in assets have primary signatories age 45 or younger.

- Since FY 2011, 30 of the 97 new DAFs were opened by Next Gen.

Social:

- The 20s/30s page on JewishBoston.com (jewishboston.com/20s30s) has seen a 40 percent increase in unique page views from FY13 as compared to FY12.

- A recently-launched dating/relationships column in JewishBoston.com, The Debrief, (jewishboston.com/tags/the%debrief) is one of JewishBoston.com’s most-viewed columns this year.

- CJP Iis working with 60+ young adult-connected organizations in the Boston area to ensure that young adults are engaging in a way that makes sense to them.

- The Network, which connects young adults aged 22-40 to over fifty different Jewish organizations and groups in Greater Boston through its "The Network" website, Open House events, and meet-ups with volunteer Ambassadors, held a "Blue and White Night event for Young Adults, at which attendance increased by 200 from last year to this year.


CJP's prominent outreach to younger Jews can be seen on their website, where a Community Resource Guide includes a “Future Generations” section, directed at those who are new to, or are thinking of moving to the Boston area. A “Welcome to Greater Boston” provides a comprehensive resource complete with discounts to events, the JCC, and other Jewish community-themed options.

"Young people want more control than the federations can offer. They want direct routes to giving, transparent processes, and fuller accountability than their parents’ generation," states Slingshot's website commentary. "Gone are the days when we trust in institutions and middle men to do our giving for us. We want direct control to ensure the maximum impact of our philanthropic dollar."